Wick-raiser for central-draft lamps



Z. DAVIS.

WICK RAISRR POR GRNTRAL DRAFT LAMPS.

(No Model.)

Patented l:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ZEBULON DAYIS, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

WICK- RAISER FOR CENTRAL-DRAFT LAM PS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 394,465, dated December 11, 1888.

Application tiled April 2l, 1888. Serial No. 271,371. (No model.)

To @Il whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, ZEBULON DAVIS, of Cleveland, in the county ot' Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in lVick-Raisers for Central-Draft Lamps; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ot' the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use it, reference being had i to the accompanying drawings, wl'iichform part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improvementin wick-raisers for central-draft lamps; and its objects are to provide a wick-raising device which is made to automatically disconnect from the wick when the raiser is moved upward to its full extent; to pass the wick-raising rod through an opening' in the top ot' the bowl, which it snugly fits, so to prevent as much as possible the sweating otl oil; to corrugate or make rough the outer su rtace ot the sleeve or tube to which the wick is applied, and to correspondingly serrate or make rough the inner surface of the clamp, so that the wick will be rigidly held without being fastened to the tube or sleeve, and to make the jaws of the clamps spring-actuated, so as to automatically adjust themselves to the wick as soon as they are left free to move.

Figure 1 is a vertical section of a wick-raising device which embodies my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the clamp and the wedge for opening it.

A represents the bowl of the lamp, B the central-draft tube, and C the tube or sleeve to which the wick D is applied. This tube() is made corrugated for any suitable distance from its lower end, not only for the purpose of strengthening the tube, but to form a rough surface, with which the wick is brought in contact, so that it can be securely held or connected to the tube without being tied or fastened thereto in any manner.

The old form ot' perforated tube may be used instead of the corrugated tube here shown, it' so desired; but the corrugations are preferred, as they strengthen the tube and keep it cylindrical against the side pressure of the clamp, and thus cause it to move more readily and accurately upon the central-draft tube B than a tube which can be sprung out of shape.

IVhen the upper portion ot' the wick is burned down to the upper end ot' the tube or sleeve C, it becomes necessary that it should be raised upon the tube, and when the wick has to be untied or the fastenings removed a great waste of time and much trouble are caused. In order to do away with this trouble and to euable a much longer wick to be used, the tube C is made' corrugated or roughencd, so that the wick will be held at any point. As here shown, the wick is iliade to extend any desired distance below the lower end of the tube O, so that it will remain in the oil and continue to supply the flame freely with oil when there is but a very small quantity left in the bowl. When the wick is tirst applied, it may be much longer than the central-draft tube B, in which case it will wrinkle at its lower end, as shown in dotted lines, and begin to straighten out as the wick is burned away.

ll'vhere the tube (l is made corrugated, so as to hold the wick, the tube can be applied to the wick at any point, as here shown, and it will act much better than where the wick is tied or clamped tothe tube, for where a string, wire, or other similar fastening' is used to bind the wick to the tube the capillary action ot' the wick is greatly retarded and the ame will not be maintained as fully and brilliantly when the oil-level falls below the fastel'ling.

The wick-raising rod G is made U-shaped, as shown, and its shorter prong is passed down through the short tube or sleeve II at the top ot' the bowl and has the spring-clamp fastened to it. The longer prongl ot' this rod G passes down through the nut J, swiveled upon the top of the bowl and the tube L, which passes through the bowl and which acts as a guide to steady theI rod in its movements. This nut is placed upon the top ot the bowl in this instance so as to adapt this l'orm otl raisingl device to a house or stand lamp; but when a hanging lamp is to be made the longer screwthreaded end ot' the rod G will pass down through the lower en d ot' the tube L and have the nut J applied to it at this point, so that it can be operated from below. The clamp I has its arms made from a wire or other suitable elastic material, which is suitably bent,

IOO

, take a fresh hold thereon.

and is secured to the shorter end of the rod G, s0 as to move vertically with it. To the end of each one of the arms of the clamp is secured a curved plate, O, which is roughened or serrated on its inner side and which is curved so as to conform to the shape of the wick. The serrations on the inner side of the plates cause the plates to take a firm hold of the wick and to force the wick in to the corrugations of the tube or sleeve C, so as to ,unite the tube, the wick, and the clamp tightlyvtogether. There should always be enough elasticity in the arms of the clamp to cause the plates O to take a iirm hold upon the wick and to force the wick into either the perforations or corrugations of tlie tube, and thus do away with the necessity of tying or other fastening of the wick to the tube or sleeve.

Secured to the under side of the bowl is a wedge, P, of any suitable shape, and this wedge is made to catch between the two arms of the clamp I, when it is raised upward by the rod G, near their inner ends, and thus force the arms apart, as shown in Fig. 2, an d cause them to automatically disengage from the wick, so as to leave the wick and the tube C free to be withdrawn from the bowl for the purpose of being readjusted or for any other purpose that may be desired. As soon as the clamp I is moved below the wedge the arms cause the plates O to snap in against opposite sides of the wick, shown in dotted lines, and thus If so desired, in` small lamps the tube C may be done away with entirely, in which case the wick will be applied directly to the tube B; but it will not then move as accurately and evenly as when clamped between two roughened surfaces, as here shown. As the rod is forced upward bythe nut J, the clamp I, carrying the wick, and the tube C are gradually raised upward from the position shown in dotted lines to the one shown in solid lines in Fig. l, when it will be necessary to readj ust the wick upon the tube C.

By means of the construction here shown both ends of the rod G are rigidly held in position by the tubes H and L,'so that they cannot vibrate, become displaced, or move unevenly, so as to interfere with the accurate raising of the wick, and whenV the clam has been raised to that point where a new a justment of the wick is necessary it automatically disengages from the wick, soA as to leave the wick free to be removed.

Instead of using plates O, the free ends of the elastic arms may be curved and made rough and to take direct hold ofthe wick; but as in common practice these arms are made narrow they do not act so positively, and the plates O are preferred.

Having thus described my invention, I

The combination of the lamp-bowl, the central-draft tube B, which extends vertically through it, the spring actuated clamp for catching hold of the wick, and the bent rod G, connected at its shorter end to the clamp, screwthreaded upon its longer end, and having this longer end to extend down into a guidingtube, with an operating-nut the tube of which is formed through one side of the lamp-bowl, and the wedge placed in 'the upper portion of the bowl, so as to operate the clamp when the clamp is forced upward, substantially as shown. v

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

Y ZEBULoN DAVIS.

Titnessesz JOHN M. LAw'roN, F. A. LEHMANN. 

